Arsenal: To all the doomsday sayers – please sit down and be quiet

Arsenal lost to Manchester City and they looked rather flat in the process. But seriously, all you crying out like this is the end of the world – just stop.

Some things never change. No matter how much Arsenal do change; no matter how much Unai Emery revolutionizes the way this club, overladen with expiring Wenger principles; no matter how much we all, deep down, know that things take a while to change; there are still people out there, experts and trolls alike, blabbering about how this club isn’t changing, or isn’t headed in the right direction.

Just stop. Seriously. We are now just over half a year into the tenure of Emery and think of all the things we have seen change already – we’ve seen the club bring in two midfielders that fit the exact specifications that we’ve wanted for so long.

We’ve seen the usage of a strike duo. I could stop there. But the strike duo isn’t just any duo, it’s the best duo in the Prem – now if only we could create some chances for them.

We’ve seen a new, young keeper capable to taking this club to the next level. We’ve seen a manager who can stand up to the ineffectiveness of Mesut Ozil, who isn’t afraid to ruffle the feathers of superstars, who is happy to experiment and try new things, and who has energy on the sidelines.

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These are all things that were on the immediate to-do list of this club post-Wenger. And we’ve already seen all of them.

Which means that, big picture, all of these things will come to be reliable parts of this club going forward as Emery continues to build out a squad that is, again, still mired in what Wenger left behind.

How many times can this be said: It takes time! It takes time to undo the knot that was sitting in the coach’s seat on Emery’s arrival. Ozil’s contract, Aaron Ramsey‘s departure, the defensive fiasco, it’s all part of the process of transition. If you want to see immediate changes after a 22-year manager, go follow another sport, because Arsenal is a club that, like it or not, builds for the long haul and not the immediate.

Which is something that should be celebrated, not criticized. It’s what has kept the club relevant for so long, and not diving down the table and leaping back up, with managers going in and out like a revolving door, players unsure of what their future holds and all the other accompanying questions of a club intent on immediate gratification.

Losing to City isn’t the end of the world, and it definitely isn’t a sign that we aren’t headed in the right direction. Wise up. Give Emery a chance.